Turbofan gas turbine engine
AssigneeROLLS-ROYCE plc
InventorsNatalie C Wong, Thomas S Binnington, David A Jones, Daniel Blacker
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Abstract
A turbofan gas turbine engine comprises, in axial flow sequence, a heat exchanger module, a fan assembly, a compressor module, and a turbine module. The fan assembly comprises a plurality of fan blades defining a fan diameter (D). The heat exchanger module comprises a plurality of heat transfer elements. The heat exchanger module is in fluid communication with the fan assembly by an inlet duct. The inlet duct has a fluid path length along a central axis of the inlet duct between a downstream-most face of the heat transfer elements and an upstream-most face of the fan assembly. The fluid path length is less than 10.0*D.
Claims12
A turbofan gas turbine engine comprising, in axial flow sequence, a heat exchanger module, a fan assembly, a compressor module, and a turbine module, the fan assembly comprising a plurality of fan blades, the heat exchanger module comprising a plurality of vanes circumferentially disposed around a center axis of the turbofan gas turbine engine with a plurality of heat transfer elements integrated with the plurality of vanes;
- wherein each of the plurality of vanes comprises a hollow portion through which ambient air flows, and the heat transfer elements are disposed in the hollow portion and exposed to the ambient airflow so as to transfer heat to the ambient airflow, and
- wherein the heat exchanger module is in fluid communication with the fan assembly by an inlet duct, the inlet duct extending between a downstream-most face of the heat transfer elements and an upstream-most face of the fan assembly.
A method of operating a turbofan gas turbine engine, the turbofan gas turbine engine comprising, in axial flow sequence, a heat exchanger module, a fan assembly, a compressor module, and a turbine module, the fan assembly comprising a plurality of fan blades, and the heat exchanger module comprises a plurality of vanes circumferentially disposed around a center axis of the turbofan gas turbine engine with a plurality of heat transfer elements integrated with the plurality of vanes,
- wherein each of the plurality of vanes comprises a hollow portion through which ambient air flows, and the heat transfer elements are disposed in the hollow portion and exposed to the ambient airflow so as to transfer heat to the ambient airflow, and
- wherein the heat exchanger module is in fluid communication with the fan assembly by an inlet duct, the inlet duct extending between a downstream-most face of the heat transfer elements and an upstream-most face of the fan assembly and
- wherein the method comprises the steps of:
- (i) providing the fan assembly, the compressor module, and the turbine module;
- (ii) positioning the heat exchanger module in fluid communication with the fan assembly by the inlet duct;
- and
- (iii) operating the turbofan gas turbine engine to provide the ambient airflow into the turbofan gas turbine engine to enable the transfer of heat from a first fluid contained within the heat transfer elements to the ambient airflow passing over a respective surface of each of the heat transfer elements prior to entry of the ambient airflow into the fan assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.